Dark Times In The Spotlight
by Deadly Chakram
Summary: When humans enter the Pride Lands, Mufasa remembers the time when humans entered the Pride Lands during his youth. Young Mufasa, how he became king, and how Taka became Scar and got his namesake.
1. Zazu and the News

**Dark Times In The Spotlight**

SUMMARY: When humans enter the Pride Lands, Mufasa remembers the time when humans entered the Pride Lands during his youth.  Young Mufasa, how he became king, and how Taka became Scar and got his namesake.  9 really short chapters.

RATED: PG-13 for some violence, death, and limited maltreatment of our favorite lions.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:   I own none of the following characters.  They remain the property of Disney.  I'm just a fan girl that loves The Lion King and wanted to experiment with writing my first ever fan fiction for it.  So please don't sue me.  No copyright infringement was intended, I just needed a release for some of the creative ideas that have been causing me to daydream between classes lately.  Also, for those of you wondering - "Zuri" as I found on an online translator means "beautiful" in Swahili.  Yes, I do realize that the chapter entitled "The Morning Report" is a Disney song.  I merely used the title because I felt it was an appropriate chapter title/summary.  Again, no copyright infringement intended.

**CHAPTER 1 - Zazu and the News**

The sun sets over another spring day in the Savannah.  The sky is painted with a dazzling array of oranges and reds.  I lay in the soft grass at the base of Pride Rock, watching as my son Simba chases a grasshopper.  I smile to myself.  The grasshopper is winning, eluding every move and pounce that he makes.  Ah!  He almost caught it that time.

"SIRE!" comes the panicked voice of Zazu, as in lands in a fury of feathers before me.

"What is it Zazu?"

"Humans!  In the Pride Lands!"

I spring to my feet.  Simba looks over to me at the commotion.  

"Where?" I demand.

"Their camp is right by the water hole."

"Simba, get up to the cave," I direct, meaning the cave on Pride Rock where we lions live.

"Aww, but dad, can't I come?" he pleads.

I shake my head no.  "It's too dangerous."

He sighs and turns away, climbing up to his waiting mother.  I sigh a bit myself as I watch him go, then turn back to Zazu.  He takes to the air, leading the way, straight to the trespassing humans.  Together we race towards the water hole, my mind reeling.  Neither of us speak, remembering the last time humans came into the Pride Lands.

We arrive at the water hole shortly after the sun dips below the horizon.  Zazu perches atop my shoulder, and I slow down to a stealthy crawl.  Silently, we pass through some of the higher patches of grass.  I can see the glow of a fire in the near distance.  I can smell the burning wood.  

There they are!  I am close enough to see the bodies moving about the ring of tents, the campfire crackling in the center.  The night is deepening quickly, and the humans are preparing themselves for sleeping.  One man still lingers by the fire, eating something out of a shiny canister.  I can see a woman too, focused on a large flat panel in front of her.  I creep in closer to get a better look.  It looks like an image of a giraffe is on it.  The woman holds a stick in her hand, the ends bristled and she dips it every now and again into one of several wooden bowls.  Then she drags it over the panel, and before my very eyes, colors appear on the surface, making the image come almost alive.

I sneak a look at Zazu.  He looks intrigued by the activity.  Then I survey the campsite once more.  Another man and woman come into view – they stand talking to the one at the panel.  Each of the two new humans has one of their cubs clinging to their hands – a male and a female by my eyes.  The man picks up each child and the younger woman at the panel gives them both a kiss, and ruffles their hair.  Now the adults lead the youngsters into one of the tents.  I notice that the man by the fire has finished his meal and has gone back into his own tent.  The young woman that created the image of the giraffe is putting away her things and tending to the fire before heading off to get some sleep herself.

The campsite is quite, but I lay in watch for quite some time before I notice how late the evening has gotten.  The campsite is silent – not a single thing is stirring within the circle of tents.  Poor Zazu is trying so hard to stay awake, but I can see how sleep is taking hold of him.  I stand up, and the tired hornbill stirs at my movement.

"Go to sleep," I tell him.  "The humans aren't going anywhere tonight.  We might as well return to Pride Rock. Our night creatures will keep watch until day comes."

"Very good sire," he replies and after a few moments I hear his light snores coming from the place on my back that he has been sitting on.

Silently I make my way to the water hole, and bend my neck to drink some of the cool water.  My throat has been burning since the run over here, but monitoring the humans took precedence over my comfort.  The safety of my kingdom, subjects, and most of all my family comes first.  I've seen the evils that mankind can bring to our home.       

I start back home at a fair pace, enjoying the cool breeze that plays around me and rakes through my mane.  The hour is getting later.  By the time I reach Pride Rock, the moon is nearing its' peak in the sky.  Zazu awakens and flys off to his nest as I ascend the ledge towards my family's home.

"Mufasa?"  It's Sarabi that calls me as she hears me enter the cave.  "Is everything alright?"

"For now," I whisper back, nuzzling her head with my own.

"Dad?"

"Go back to sleep Simba.  Everything's alright."

"That's not it.  I was wondering why having humans in the Pride Lands is so bad.  Are they part of the Circle of Life too?"

I smile crosses my face at my son's curiosity.  "Simba, mankind is a strange creature.  Yes, humans are a part of the Circle of Life, but they don't always respect it."

The chirps of distant crickets fill the pause before Simba answers.  "Oh.  Why not Dad?"  
  


"I don't know Simba.  Just go back to sleep.  These humans may yet prove to be of a gentler breed of man.  We'll have to see what happens in the morning."

"But dad, I don't understand…"

"Some day you will Simba.  But for now, just go back to sleep."

"Okay, okay, I'm going back to sleep.  Goodnight Dad."  He yawns and lays his head back down on the cool stone floor.

"Goodnight Simba."

I stretch out on the ground and close my eyes, but no sleep comes to me.  Long after my wife and son fall asleep, I lay awake, until I finally get up and leave.  I sit midway on the ledge of Pride Rock, the ledge that lets me survey the lands of my kingdom.  I can still see the faint dot of the human's campfire in the distance.  But it is not the land that occupies my thoughts now.  The stars have it.  I glance back to the dark, silent opening of the cave and then back at the stars and I sigh in sadness.

_If only Simba knew what dangers, what evils humans are capable of,_ I think to myself.

I lay down and allow my mind to drift back to the years of my cubhood.


	2. The Early Days

**CHAPTER 2 – The Early Days**

For the most part, I had a happy cubhood.  I spent my days much as Simba does now, playing with my friends, and yes, I will admit, even causing the occasional mischief.  I was the eldest out of my brother Taka and myself.  But during the earliest part of my youth, we were inseparable.  We'd spend our days playing games of tag all throughout the Savannah, and when the tagger would catch the runner, wrestling games would ensue.

It must have been a sight to see, our two different fur colors tumbling along the ground.  You see, my fur was, and still is, of a brownish gold color.  I took after my father in that respect.  Taka, on the other paw, had a reddish fur, like my mother.   Ahadi, my father, was the king of the Pride Lands.  He was a brave and strong lion, and he was a wise leader.  My mother was Zuri.  Her mother had been killed by a rampaging rhino when she was a cub, and Ahadi's parents took her in and raised her.  As Ahadi and Zuri grew up together, friendship turned to love, and after Ahadi succeeded his father as king, the two were wed.  My brother and I entered the scene not too long after that.

The seasons came and went, and as Taka and I grew day by day, our games became more serious.  I remember one time when we were wrestling, Taka was so into the game that he forgot that we were, in fact playing.  As we tumbled down a small hill side, Taka dug his claws into my back until he drew blood.

"Taka!" I snapped, angry at what he had done.  "What was that for?"  
  


"Sorry," he answered, but I caught a tone to his voice that I hadn't noticed before.  He sounded almost mocking.  Then he turned tail and sauntered away, tail twitching as he flicked away a few flies that were buzzing in the air.

More time passed, and my mane began to grow in.  The golden tuft of fur on top of my head grew to be dark brown in color, and grew longer to make a line down the back of my head.  Taka's mane, on the other hand, was coming in more slowly, and the small patch of it that had grown was a rich black color.  I was beginning to roar more powerfully – Taka had not yet done so.

My father began to spend more time with me, and my games with my younger brother grew less and further between.  Taka and I drifted further apart – he all but alienated me when he saw me.  Dad was preparing me for my role as the future king of the land.  Every day he would teach me something new, or review particularly difficult concepts from the day before.

"We all connected in the great Circle of Life," he would often say as we'd walk through the land.  Then he'd usually comment on how a particular animal contributed their part to it.  

None of these lessons were totally new to me.  My father had been telling me the same things all my life.  But now I finally understood what he was doing.  He was helping me to have a deep respect and understanding for the Circle of Life, and all the animals that I would one day lord over.  And so, day by day, dad would impart his wisdom unto me.


	3. Captured!

**CHAPTER 3 – Captured!**

It was during the spring months of that very same year when the humans came into the Pride Lands.  They were first spotted along the edge of the northern border, but they swiftly made their way to the water hole.  Dad and I went to check out the situation.

What we saw there was bad.  Animals were confined to cages that were loaded onto something that we heard one man call "trucks."  The grass around the campsite was burnt down to the soil, probably from a campfire that got out of control.  Small tan and green tents were in a tight semi-circle, with the caged animals at one end.

Several men patrolled the area, marching back and forth, probably in hopes of protecting themselves from being hunted by some of the predatory animals.  Another group of men was over by the cages, looking at what they had caught.

"We need to alert the others," dad said, and we dashed off back to Pride Rock.  

The sun was high in the sky when we got there.  Only Mom and Taka were there, the other lionesses had gone out hunting in the southern parts of the Pride Lands.

"I'm going back there with you," Taka said, coming forward, once we had relayed the information.  

"I am going as well," mom said.

"No Zuri, stay here.  We don't know how dangerous these humans are yet.  They have already captured some of people.  Who knows what they are going to do!"

"Ahadi, this is my kingdom as much as it is yours.  As your queen I will do whatever it takes to help you get these humans out of the Pride Lands."

I could see dad's hesitation, but after a moment, he consented, knowing that he would never be able to change my mother's mind now that it was made up.  So together, we once again headed back to the water hole.

We found a great lookout spot at the top of a hill overlooking the camp.  But we did not stay there long.  We were now close enough to hear the conversations of the men as they talked by the fire, cleaning these shiny metal sticks that the leader called guns.

"Be on your guard men," the leader, Butch Narma said.  "Just a few more animals and then we can head back to the boss."

At this, Taka let out a low, menacing growl.

Narma was instantly at his feet.  "What was that?"

"Over there!  A couple of lions!" shouted another.

"Get them!"

They rushed forward, grabbing up guns, and began to shoot at us.  My family and I tried to dodge and duck into safety, but I saw each one of them fall.  I turned and ran back, seeing red, wanting to kill the humans for what they had done.  But as I ran, something struck me in the neck.  It felt like a sting, yet it was worse than any animal sting I had experienced.  I became inexpiably tired and I soon crashed to the ground.


	4. Relocation

**CHAPTER 4 - Relocation**

When I next woke up, I was caged and the African landscape was rushing by me.  The rest of my family were in separate cages next to me, heavy eyed, but otherwise unharmed.  I stood shakily on my feet and shook my head to clear it.  Then I started to examine my confines.  The thick metal bars of the cages were strong and the door held tight when I pushed against it.

I growled in irritation.  But neither Taka nor my father were making any better progress.

For a few hours, we watched the land speed by us.  Day turned into night.  At last, we stopped and the humans began to unload the truck that we were on.  I could see them opening up larger cages and putting the other animals in them.  Giraffes, zebras, rhinos, I watched them all get paraded by my small cage.

Finally the men turned to us.  I could see a new man with them, the boss by the way the others treated him with respect.  He had a walking stick with him, a short black stick with a golden lion head on the top.  His hat was tall and flat on the top and the tails of his jacket hung to his knees.  Gold sparkles decorated the outfit.  I could see that he was of middle age, tall and thin, with dark brown eyes and neatly trimmed black hair.  Perfect white teeth showed when he spoke.

"Tomorrow I will begin training with them.  My lions are growing old, and can't be my center ring stars any longer.  But first, before you show them to their new home, come, let me take a look at them.  I want to ensure top quality for my act before I pay you."

Narma, the leader of the campsite humans, gave a few orders to the other man, and soon we all found harsh steel rings about our necks.  The men each held a length of chain, and we were dragged out of our cages.

"Mr. Klins, may I present to you, your new stars," Narma said.

Klins turned to us to give us a look over.  "Very nice," he said, looking at my father and my mother.  "This red furred lioness will be a highlight!  But these two," he gestured at Narma and me, "no manes!  Unless of course you call that mohawk on that one a mane!"  He pointed accusingly at me.  "Well, I'm sure it will grow.  They still must be trained.  Put them inside with the other lioness that came in this afternoon."

"Yes Mr. Klins."

With that, the humans pulled us roughly into the largest tent I have ever seen.  In the cage before me, I could see a young lioness, her back towards me.  The humans pushed us into the cage, and the lioness quickly turned to look at us.

"Sarabi?" I asked.  My betrothed was here.  The humans had captured her too.

"Mufasa," she purred as she rubbed her head under my chin.  I rested my head lightly on top of hers.  We stayed like that for a moment before pulling apart.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.  

"I was on my first unassisted hunt when this group of humans surrounded me.  I fought, but something stung me and when I woke up, I was in a cage."

"The same thing happened to us when we went to see what the humans were up to," my father said.

Taka said nothing, he only whipped his tail furiously. 

Tears streamed down my love's eyes.  "Oh Mufasa.  All I needed was that first unaided kill and then you and I could have been married.  And now, who knows what's going to happen to us."  She avoided my gaze, her eyes cast down to the ground.

"Don't worry Sarabi, I'll protect you," I said, hoping that I sounded more confident that I felt.  Truth be told, I had a sense that things were not going to go well.


	5. Hard Lessons

**CHAPTER 5 – Hard Lessons**

I awoke the next morning to a cracking sound.  At first, I thought it was thunder, and forgot for the moment where I was.  My eyes flew up at another crack.  Nope, it wasn't a dream.  We were all still stuck in the cage.

Klins was standing before our cage, dressed much as he had been the day before, only this time the gold colors were replaced by red.  In his right hand he held a long slender instrument, which I found out much later was called a whip.  He lashed it through the air and it made the cracking sound that had woken me up from my slumber.

"Get up, get up," he ordered, and my family, who hadn't gotten too much sleep that night anyway, yawned and got to their feet.

Narma came into the room, and one by one, each of us were led out of the cage and into another room.

This room was very large and the ground was a mixture of soft wood chips, dirt, and dried grass.  Three large wooden rings lay in a row down the width of the floor.  All around the central arena with the rings were platforms where we later saw that other humans would sit to watch the captured animals perform.  Vents on the walls and ceiling blew cool or warm air into the room, to meet whatever needs the humans had.

We were all led to the center ring, another cage having been lowered from the ceiling to fit around.  Narma chained us to the ground, leads just long enough to accommodate Klins' needs.  I pushed against the chain, using all of my neck muscles, but nothing gave way.

Klins raised the whip, and cracked it right before our faces.  And our training thusly began.  For many hours we worked, and Klins forced us to obey his commands with that ever cracking whip. We grew weary, and at length, Klins decided that he had accomplished enough for the day.  We were led back to the cage, all of us, except for my father.  Klins still wanted to work with him, and after another two hours, he was finally returned to us.

He was panting and weak.  Klins himself led him in, knowing that Rama was too tired to pose any real threat to him.  The human gave us some water and just enough food to keep us from starving to death.  Then the lights were shut off and we were left alone once more.

"Ahadi," my mother said, bringing a piece of meat over to where my father lay in the furthest corner of the cage.  "Are you alright?"

"That human – that Mr. Klins – he must be stopped.  I saw him bring out other animals, presumably to work with them the same way that he did with us."

"What did he do to you dad?" I asked, padding up to him, my voice filled with worry.

"What didn't he do is more the question.  We must find a way out of here."

"There is no way out, not out of this cage anyway," Taka said with a disgusted sneer.  "We must wait for our opportunity, and fight our way out when the humans are working with us."

"You may be right," dad agreed.  "But we must proceed with precaution.  Keep your wits about you, and wait for the right opportunity to come along.  If we aren't careful, the humans are likely to kill us out of fear."

With that said, my father sunk his teeth into the hunk of meat before him, and lapped a little water from the bowl that had been set down for us.  

From a high window, I could see the stars peaking out from behind a few wispy clouds.  That night, we all slept soundly.  Not because we were comfortable with our surroundings, however, but out of sheer exhaustion.  I slept alongside Sarabi – her head rested lightly on my neck.  

Morning came too early, in much the same fashion as the previous day.  Klins was ready to train us again, so once again we spent most of the day learning new tricks to avoid the sharp sting of the whip, which the human wielded mercilessly.

At the end of the day we were returned to our small confines without my father, who Klins kept with him in the center ring.  When he did return, he was more beaten looking than he was the day before.  Again we got little food and water to sustain us.

This same pattern went on for many days, and after a while, I ceased to keep track of the passage of time.  Life became routine, and my father grew ill.  Secretly, when no one was looking, I would take half of my food ration and give it to my father and mother, saying that it was left over once I had finished.  Still, my father grew worse day by day.


	6. The Passing of the Crown

**CHAPTER 6 – The Passing of the Crown**

After a time – maybe just a few weeks, as I could feel the beginnings of the early summer heat in the air – Klins took our training to the next level.    

We awoke that morning as we had every morning of our captivity, to the cracking whip of Klins.  But we could all sense that something was wrong, different, foreboding about the day.  Perhaps this was the day when we would make our escape.  

As we were led into the arena by Narma, Klins stood in the center.  To his left hand side there were five or six orange cats with black stripes covering their face and body.  Muscles rippled under their skins.  Obviously, their performances had pleased Klins, because it had become apparent to us that the amount of food we received was based on how much our performances had pleased Klins.  The large, well groomed cats snarled and growled at us, white teeth flashing as they vocalized their threats.

"Come, bring the lions to my other side," Klins instructed Narma.  "It is time for them to meet their co-stars, my prized tiger team!"  

We were led to the center ring, the cage around it gone for repairs.  Narma had just unclipped our leads for the session, when the big male of the tigers sprang forward.

My father met him in the air, trying to protect us.  The others moved forward, each one attacking one of us.  Taka was to my right, fighting one of the smaller males.  I could see as I twisted around, fighting off a different male, when Taka's foe hit him in the left eye, claws extended.  A piece of flesh was ripped away and blood gushed from the wound.  Later that wound would heal, but from that time on, Taka carried a scar and a new name in remembrance.

I was busy fighting off the tiger before me.  His teeth sank into my back, I slashed my claws across his face.  All the while I heard the frantic shouts of Narma and Klins, but neither human dared to try and break the fight apart – and with good reason too, for there is no doubt in my mind that they would have been ripped apart.    I had succeeded in getting the upper paw in the fight by this point, and was able to knock my adversary out and to the ground.  I turned to lend my help to my father, who was struggling in his weakened state.  But as I turned, I could see that it was too late.

The tiger leader had my father's throat in his huge jaws.  It was a death hold, similar to the ones that the lionesses of my pride used when hunting.  My mother had part of the tiger's neck in her own teeth, but I could see that she was weak, her body torn and bloody.  A dead tigress lay on the ground, not far from where Sarabi was slowly killing the other.  I threw myself on the big male, helping my mother, until the tiger was dead.  But even as the tiger died, my mother drew her last breath, and fell beside my father.     

"Father!" I yelled, seeing the blood gushing from the neck wound.

"Mufasa, my son.  Taka, my boy.  I'm sorry that I got you into this mess.  Look after the Pride Lands for me.  Mufasa, you are the king now.  Always remember all that I taught you.  I'm sorry I never saw you and Sarabi wed – but I know you will make excellent rulers of the land.  Taka, I…I…"

My father, the great king Ahadi, fell silent and his eyes closed for the last time.  I was instantly an orphan.  The Pride Lands had lost both King Ahadi and Queen Zuri within the span of an instant.   

Taka was snarling threats at the humans when I called to him.

"Come on Taka, let us leave while we still can."

"No, these two will pay for all that they have done!"

"No Taka!  Our mother and father would not have wanted that.  Leave them be."

But my brother would not be persuaded from his task, and as I turned to run from the building, he sprang at the two terrified humans.  I did not turn around – I merely nudged the heads of my mother and father, kissed them both goodbye, and teary eyed, I headed to the exit with Sarabi.


	7. Confrontation

**CHAPTER 7 – Confrontation**

As fast as we could, we ran for freedom, and hid in the tall brown grasses just a mile or two from that horrid place.  Not much time passed before Taka found our hiding place.  Dried blood was caked on his long face and near his eye.

"Taka," I cried out, happy that my brother had survived.

"Don't call me that."

"What?" 

"My name is no longer Taka.  It is Scar.  And you!  You coward!"

"What do you mean…coward?"

"You ran!  I can't believe you ran!  Those humans killed our parents, almost killed the three of us, and you ran!  You didn't even stay to help me deliver justice."

"Scar," the name sounded funny to my ears, "I am the king now.  I called judgment when I said leave them be.  And you deliberately disobeyed me!"

"I avenged our father and king!"

"You killed for the sake of killing!  You avenged your own maltreatment!"

"I honored our family!"

"You shamed our family!"

Scar slunk away at this remark, and the existing rift between us grew into an impassable chasm.


	8. Bitter Sweet Homecoming

**CHAPTER 8 – Bitter Sweet Homecoming**

It took us a week before we reached the Pride Lands once more.  We ate what we could catch along the way, drank what water we could find, slowly building our strength back up.  Scar never spoke another word during this time, in fact, none of us spoke much.  Fear had seized Sarabi and I, that the other humans might track us down to kill us because of Scar's actions.  

We traveled always by night, and even then, we kept to the shadows or the high grass, whatever was available to keep us concealed from the eyes of our enemies.  But the humans never came, and soon enough, we found ourselves back in the Pride Lands.

Rafiki, the family's oldest and wisest friend, spotted us as soon as we had crossed the border.  He was extremely pleased to see us, but troubled that Ahadi and Zuri were not with us.  It was I that broke the news to him, and immediately he went off to spread the word.  A period of great mourning was to come, as the lion king and queen were deeply loved by all the creatures of the Pride Lands.

This mourning period lasted for over a week, and at the end of that time, I ascended to the throne.  From the peak of Pride Rock, I roared out over the gathered animals, and they sent back their acknowledgement and respect of their new king.  Sarabi was with me up there on Pride Rock.  Just that morning, she had made her first unassisted kill, and she and I had been married by Rafiki.  

Time passed.  I grew day by day into a full adult lion, and Sarabi became more beautiful by the day.  Scar and I grew ever more distant, but I had other things on my mind.  

Sarabi had been beaten by the humans on several occasions, and kicked repeatedly in her sides and stomach for not obeying orders quick enough.  These injuries had badly damaged her internally, and though we tried many a time, years passed and Sarabi still did not conceive a cub.  Often she would sob, wanting a child to love so badly, not feeling complete.  It was in those times that it was the hardest for me to be brave, as the thought of never having a son or daughter broke my heart.  We consulted Rafiki, but nothing could be done. We had all but resigned ourselves to never being parents.

Then, one sunny day after a week of harsh rains, Sarabi sauntered out to where I sat out on Pride Rock, looking out over my kingdom.  Zazu was rattling on about something that was not terribly important, but had his feathers ruffled nonetheless. 

"Zazu, may I have a word with Mufasa?  Alone?"

"Yes, of course madame," and without another word (which was rare for the hornbill at that time), he flew off.

"Mufasa, I have something to tell you."

"Yes, dear, what is it?  Has Scar been bothering Sarafina again?"

"No.  This is something I know you'll be happy about."

I met her eyes with my own, seeing a sparkle in them that I hadn't seen before.  What was going on behind those beautiful eyes?

"Mufasa, all these long years, we have done all that we could to have a child.  It has paid off."

My brain was reeling and I couldn't register her words right away.

"What?"

"We are going to have a cub Mufasa.  You're going to be a daddy."

I was the happiest I had ever been.  My child – our child – was within Sarabi.  The love that that humans had almost robbed from us had beaten the odds.  I was going to be a father.

The rest of the day was a blur for me, and in due time, our son Simba was born.


	9. The Morning Report

**CHAPTER 9 -  The Mourning Report**

The winds have changed, and a sudden chill stirs me from my thoughts.  I look back out over the lands.  The campfire from the human's campsite has died down, I can't even see the glow against the blackness of the night.  I look at the stars and the moon.  Clouds have rolled in, but I can still tell that many hours have passed since I came outside.  A sudden weariness takes hold of me, and I go back into my cave.  This time, sleep takes hold of me.

I awaken the next morning to the sun streaming in through the entrance of the cave.  I yawn and stretch.  Sarabi and Simba are already outside.  I walk out to join them.  As soon as I say good morning to them, Zazu lands before me.

"Checking in with the morning update on the humans," he says, bowing just a bit.

"Tell me all about it."

I look over at Simba, who has since stopped chasing a red and blue butterfly.  He is sitting still, deeply interested in the subject at paw.

"Well, the word is that the humans were up at dawn, breaking down camp.  A lot of those flat panels we saw last night were seen being put on trucks.  Rhinos, zebras, giraffes, antelope, monkeys, cheetahs, warthogs, elephants…"

"Get on with it Zazu," I say, eager to hear about the humans, not the images on the panels.

"Sorry sir," he apologizes, and clears his throat.  "Anyway, they put everything on the trucks and drove away to the north.  My cousins followed them until the humans were way beyond the boundaries of the Pride Lands."

"Good," I say, as a heavy weight is lifted from my heart.  My fears are instantly dispelled.  My family and my kingdom are safe.  The humans were not dangerous this time.

"So everything is ok dad?" Simba asks.

"Yes son, everything is going to be just fine," I smile.  Everything will be just fine.   


End file.
